nyslowhand

The NY DEC Whitetail Mgmt Plan for 2012-2016...? That was written in the 2009/10 timeframe by Cornell's Dept of Natural Resources for the DEC. Please reference any support shown by the DEC for Xbows since. I've never seen any!?! If they actually did, wouldn't that have gone a long way in possibly swaying the previous year's proposed legislation to include Xbows in bow season?? JMO, but solely depending on Cumo's endorsement hasn't worked with this political "hot potato".

What is it about some of us die-hard archery hunters that stubbornly refuse to let crossbows into the bow season? We had almost no reservation about the intro of compound bows. Now we're drawing the line in the sand...? JMO, but as a life long bow hunter it embarrasses me to read some of the selfish reasons for not considering Xbows as archery tackle. Do agree with others that would like the bow hunting safety course to be more in depth and a requirement for hunting w/Xbows. A special license for Xbow hunting might help pay for these additional training expenses. Grumble..$$. With a special license, the DEC could track Xbow harvests, unlike how it currently is grouped into "bow kills". All the above could possibly do away with that stereotypical scenario of a gun hunter who's never hunted with a bow from signing a stupid certification, purchasing a ML license, buying a Xbow and using it the next day. I've heard these horror stories 1st hand and as a bow AND Xbow hunter they upset me!!

Lets see... determine dominant eye for LH/RH bow, lock elbow & stiff arm bow with opposite arm and draw back to determine DL, decide on an appropriate easily held draw wgt and the rest is practicing form. Don't know about you Doc, but I'd be less than ... effective and probably somewhat comical using a LH bow while being right eye dominant. Not to mention my "weaker arm" might pull back less draw wgt, so I'd have to build-up those muscles to attain a reasonable draw wgt. You're opening Pandora's box...... Only us old farts with less than ideal muscle tone would worry about this issue! LOL. Gym membership..? Maybe just TOO much caffeine before bedtime.... or a glass of wine might help.

Remember reading an article about this topic written by a whitetail biologist. IRC, stated whitetails have very limited capability to store things in their brain, like we can. Went on to say that instinctive marks were attached to their brain from their senses to let them know what is dangerous, where/who/what to avoid, where food sources are, etc. Also possibly genetically passed down thru generations. Interesting theory, much like the ones telling us what deer see. How the hell do they know this...!?! Then I think about the bucks that go on their 5mi radius rut excursions and always return to their home base. Convinced the bucks also know the habits and home bases of does from their summertime travel. Then there's the decades of deer filing into the orchards just when the apples are at their ripest. We've all heard the stories about running a chainsaw & soon after deer come looking for browse. Or shooting a doe and the fawn won't leave that area for months. JMO, deer do have the capacity to remember certain things, but mainly instinctive factors like food, danger, habitat... Okay, so that's what their entire life revolves around! Every deer is different, but in my experience the actual treestands are not the issue with them avoiding them. Of course, once they don't perceive a new stand to be threatening or of any danger. BUT once they get acclimated to a new stand in the area... if they do see, smell or detect something unusual, that's another story.

In retrospect, I prefered the Oct 15th bow season opening in the SZ. Simple reason is that it gave you so much less time getting frustrated seeing not much before the "hot" action begins. I can only take so many encounters during early season with the Lil guys prancing around in front of my stand before I get annoyed and might do something I regret with my either sex tag. All this after a long period of May->Sept foreplay with trail cam, scouting, sightings, s/u stands, food sources, practicing, etc. Not saying I won't be out there Oct 1st, waiting.... I like to think of it as being punked or set-up, rather than hit. Anyone that has historical sighting info (logs, journals) can confirm that you are less likely to see any BBs on their feet, during daylight until late Oct. If your trail cams over the years have shown what mine have, the velvet comes off, bachelor groups disperse, the big boys go nocturnal and their photos become sparse. Also look back and recall when the earliest you'd gotten a decent buck. Betting it is like my harvest data, pretty late in Oct..!?! Granted, there might be the occasional exception. Armed with all this historical BB travel pattern data, we still go out early just hoping one will be stupid and walk in from of us... Here's to "Wishing & Hoping", I'll be there!!!!

Every young males hero!

You have them well trained! LOL. Any BBs in my area venture out mostly in the cover of darkness until their hormones override their better judgement.

Early season - food sources, but don't expect to see those big boys just yet.

Pretty innocent question, huh? Lot more to the OP's question than how much can you pull back!!! Lot of things determine your max or a reasonable draw weight - body build, muscle tone, injuries, age, consistent form, hunting situation, bow's let-off, blah, blah... Obviously there's no ideal draw weight for everyone and Tom Miranda should NOT be your role model! I've always used 2 factors, hold time being the major determination of much draw weight I can physically tolerate. The other factor is being able to pull straight back and not coming to full draw using the "wind mill" type of draw consistent with way too much poundage. JMO, if I can get a pass-thru with a well placed shot using a draw weight in the mid-50# range, why would I need more when shooting at deer in the typical ≤ 25yrd range..? Aren't your stand locations a direct correlation to your ethical range, also a by-product of draw weight and hold time? Naturally I do not hunt close to the perimeter of agr fields with the ethical range I have imposed on myself! So.. adapt and hunt!

Can't wait to hear more about Luna's experiences this coming deer season, esp her success stories!

Can't help w/arrow selection, but it is very cool you & GF are shooting together!!!! Know you're talking about practicing, but you did post in a Bow Hunting topic... Just in case you didn't know - Per DEC's regs/rules: "It is unlawful to hunt big game with: A bow with a draw weight of 35 lbs or less."

Welcome to the old fart's club. LOL. Lower draw weight, shorter hold times. closer ethical shots, shorter stand sits, more frequent pee breaks, blah, blah, blah. All while still trying to enjoy bow hunting as a fun endeavor!!!

You get a set of 2 tags, antlerless and either sex when you purchase either a bow or ML license. If you get both bow and ML licenses, you still only get the set of 2 tags (2 deer) to use in whatever season you have licenses for, bow, Xbow or ML . Use them up, save them, ration them.... whatever! NYS legislators made Xbow hunting, regulations and the specific season super confusing in an attempt to appease the Xbow enthusiast, while limiting their usage. Crossbow season is listed with actual dates, but it's really last 2 weeks of bow season in SZ. You need a ML license to hunt with a Xbow during bow season and you report any kills as taken with a "bow". Figure that out...!??!

Per instuctions for my 10pt Xbow; wax string, NOT servings! Lube rail lightly with oil & spread out evenly. Just as important is to oil any mechanisms; ie; trigger, safety, ratchet cockers, etc. I also lightly wax the string on my ratchet cocker. This is for a compound type of Xbow. Assuming a recurve or reverse draw type of Xbow might need slightly different maintenance...

Kool! Don't have many woodchucks where I hunt, but do wish the Yotes would get an appetite for coons!

The scent-free industry is a multi $1B/yr market. They try to make a science out of it and tell the hunter exactly what a deer sees and smells. I'm a little confused as to how they know this!??! Personally hooked on being as scent-free & non-UV as possible, to a point w/o being OCD about it! If you hunt in your work or street clothing, store your gear where the family pets frequent, smoke, eat or drink in the stand, etc and it's been working, by all means keep doing it that way!!!! I'd be willing to bet you'd have more up close encounters if you simply stored your gear in an old corn feed bag then as if you used all the scent-free products on the market! Really think it has more to do with what scent the deer have encountered and view as a threat. If you frequent your hunting spots during off seasons and the deer smell you w/o perceiving a threat, your chances of being less scent-free & having encounters during the hunting season are much better. If you only enter your hunting area during the season, your "smells" become much more alarming or threatening to the deer. Believe a lot of you land owners can attest to this...

Hell, I can barely see a 3" bullseye at 65yrds, let alone consistently put arrows into it.... Okay, so every bow hunter wants to be Robin Hood, but then there's reality. My philosophy has been to consistently put arrows in a 3" bullseye at a specific range. That sets my max ethical kill distance, be it 20, 25, 30 or whatever yardage. Beyond is basically a hail Mary shot and generally cringe worthy. JMO, but bow hunting to me is an "up close & personal" encounter, so shots out beyond 40-50yrds are counter-intuitive to my type of bow hunting. Naturally every bow hunter is different....

Would like to go back in time and put Mayweather in the ring with the likes of Leonard, Duran, Hagler, Hearns, Pacquiao. Of course all being in their prime. Seen a lot of subjective predictions stating Mayweather could not beat any of them... FYI - That fight was ruled a split decision.

Doe bleats, soft at 1st and louder each time until they hear it & stop An initial loud bleat or grunt will definitely startle a deer. Never tried scents in a shooting lane, but sounds reasonable if that's where they end up walking thru.

Used to struggle with my 2 stroke chainsaws and HD trimmer using Ethanol fuel and various gas & oil additives. Still had to have carbs rebuilt about every 2yrs. Got to a point where the service techs wouldn't rebuild or possibly the kits weren't available, but replacing the carb became the norm ($$). Started using non-Ethanol 91 octane with Stabilt added. Also had always used a name brand 2 stroke fuel additive oil, none of those no-name brands. Even back when non-Ethanol was approaching $4/gal, used it in everything from the ATV, generators, mowers and down to trimmers. Seemed to have taken care of the problem for me! Lawdwaz - When was last time you took a piece of equipment to a small engine repair shop. The brand name (Stihl, Husky, etc) shops in my area have a ~$90/hr labor rate.

Absolutely, stop 'em before taking the shot with a bow. You only have to screw-up once with a shot too far back on a walking deer before you learn your lesson. Since you generally only get one shot, make it count! Little different hunting with long guns when you have more than one shot opportunity and at greater distances! BUT ... Do NOT get into the mindset of thinking about follow-up shots and not making 1st bullet, slug, sabot count! More lead does NOT equal more deer!

Here's the $1M question... If you pee in a scrape, it'll help attract bucks to the scrape! So why worry about peeing from a stand? And.. What do you do with the contents of your pee bottle after the hunt, pour it out next to your stand/blind? Somehow that just doesn't make any sense to me and the reason I just let it fly overboard during my hunts. I've actually had young bucks directly under my ladder stand sniffing where I'd pee'ed. Obviously, you do what you feel confident doing, so keep doing it that way!!

People affected by annual tornados or in hurricane low-lying coastal areas just keep rebuilding over & over & over again. As if it were part of their way of life. I just don't get that mind-set...!??!

Currently downgraded to a Cat 4. IF.. it stays at Cat 4 when it hits FL, may be downgraded further than projected for points in its' path to the north. Of course, there will be still be plenty of rain, just not the hurricane winds. Oh yeah, make sure you take a Dramamine for your flight back to NYS... lol